Portland Timbers fire coach John Spencer

The Portland Timbers have scheduled a news conference at 2:30 p.m. today at Jeld-Wen Field at which they will announce the firing of coach John Spencer, multiple sources close to the team confirm.

General manager Gavin Wilkinson will take over as interim coach for the rest of the season.

"Change was needed," a source tells The Oregonian, explaining that owner Merritt Paulson is committed to winning. The decision was about Spencer's "long-term fit," not one incident or loss.

Timbers management is meeting at 10 a.m. to discuss where the team goes from here. A search for a permanent replacement will begin immediately. Paulson is scheduled to speak at this afternoon's press conference.

The Timbers (5-8-4, 19 points) have not won a road game since October, and this season are 0-6-2 away from Jeld-Wen Field.

His stance changed in the six weeks since then, in which the Timbers lost at the L.A. Galaxy, won at home against rival Seattle, lost at Colorado, won at home against San Jose and then lost, Saturday, at Real Salt Lake. In that final game of the Spencer era, the Timbers defense allowed Alvaro Saborio to post a second-half hat trick.

Spencer, 41, a native of Glasgow, Scotland, who was hired in August 2010, is not at practice this morning. He went 11-14-9 in the Timbers' inaugural MLS season, just missing the playoffs. He signed a new, three-year contract in January for an undisclosed amount.